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Daniel Barac ready to reignite his soccer career with Canberra Olympic

Kyle Papworth

Daniel Barac has returned to Canberra from a stint with the Western Sydney Wanderers. Photo: Jay Cronan

A brief taste of A-League action left him "stale" and disenchanted with soccer, but Canberra Olympic star Daniel Barac wants to rediscover his passion in the capital.

The 21-year-old has scored two goals in two games for Olympic since deciding to put his A-League ambitions on hold to return home.

It's a stark contrast to the 13-game goal drought he experienced in Sydney, which contributed to the end of his frustrating journey from Canberra to the Western Sydney Wanderers and the premier Sydney competition.

Barac said he had issues playing under former A-League coach Branko Culina. Photo: Jay Cronan

A playing stint at Rockdale under former A-League coach Branko Culina was the last straw in Barac's Sydney experiment, which drained him of his love for the sport.

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But Barac has set his sights on helping lift Olympic to Capital Football Premier League success.

“Branko and I didn’t get along very well and we had a few issues,” Barac said.

Daniel Barac in his return for Canberra Olympic. Photo: Graham Tidy

“He wanted to move me further back and play me in defence, but I’m not a defender. I’ve never defended in my life, all I wanted to do was to go out and score goals and that didn’t really happen at Rockdale.

“But it was more professional than you find in Canberra because it was full-time. We trained full-time and it was very intense.

“It taught me a different style of football. I was there to train and play, so I was expected to put in extra sessions.”

The Wanderers recruited Barac to their youth league side when he was a teenager.

But he was cut from the squad and spent two seasons with Sydney United before defecting to the Culina-led Rockdale this year.

With two goals in as many games since being back in Canberra, Barac said playing for Canberra Olympic was refreshing following a turbulent period in NSW’s premier competition.

“We have a good coach, good players and we have our own physio so the set up is good to be a part of,” he said.

"We gel really well, and the boys were really welcoming when I came back.

"I played a few games for Olympic three years ago, we played in a grand final against [Canberra FC] and it was 8-5. So coming back to Olympic after a stale period in Sydney is really good."